Tuesday, November 28, 2017

The Power of the Cover with Author Seelie Kay today on #RB4U

The Power of the Cover

When I am looking for a hot
read, two things push me toward the cash register: The cover and the blurb. But the cover, oh, that cover. That can make
me stop dead in the middle of an aisle, take a few steps back, and grab a book from
the shelf. The blurb merely reinforces my first impression, or not.

There are all sorts of
covers, of course. For most authors, the
trick is creating a cover that actually conveys the essence of the story inside
and grabs the attention of the reader. That’s not easy. My publisher requires
that I complete a form for each book. I
am asked about the key elements of the story and what I think would make an
ideal cover. That information is submitted to a cover designer. Then, when I
get the first proposed cover, we negotiate. I tell the designer what I like and don’t
like. I make suggestions as to what will make the content clearer or more
appealing. And when dealing with books in my Kinky Briefs series, I make sure that the consistent elements are
always present.

For example, Kinky Briefs is a collection of “Sizzling short stories about lawyers in
love, with a dash of kink.” The stories are told from the perspective of a
young female lawyer who toils in the backroom of a law firm. (As a former
lawyer, that perspective seemed fitting.) The stories encompass everything from
drama and humor to tragedy and redemption. There are currently three books in the series
and a fourth is on the way. So I need those covers to clearly convey that the
book is part of a series, as well as communicate that the stories are told from
the perspective of a young female lawyer, and involve romance and kink.

Here’s what we came up with.
To indicate that the books are part of a series, the words “Kinky Briefs” appears
on the cover in a consistent typeface, size, and color, with the position of
the book in the series (Too, Thrice, Quattro) added. To convey that the stories
are about lawyers in love, we added a tagline that includes the words lawyers, love, and kink. To communicate that that the stories are told from
the perspective of a young female lawyer, we decided on the half-figure of a
young female dressed professionally, but youthfully, not in the stuffy designer
suits some older female lawyers wear. Finally, to emphasize that the stories
include a dash of kink, an open briefcase with a pair of handcuffs peeking out
always appears somewhere on the cover.

When the covers are placed
side by side, it is clear they are part of a series. Then the blurb is used to
reveal the variety of stories each volume contains.

As to the perfect cover, the
one that made me stop in my tracks, take a few steps back, and grab the book
off the shelf? I have to give that to my
latest novella, A Touchdown To Remember,
part of Extasy Books’ 2017 Stocking
Stuffing series. Although a generic cover is used for the entire series,
the gorgeous half-clothed man donning a Santa hat, a man with a bit of stubble,
dark hair, and incredible blue eyes, that made my eyes glaze over with lust and
my heart go pitter patter.

If I saw that cover in a
bookstore, I would buy the book merely to keep the cover under my pillow to
feed my dreams at night!

A
Touchdown To Remember

By Seelie Kay

(Release date:
12/7/2017)

It takes more than a hard knock on the head to
keep running back Tim Wheezer Douglas down. When life pelts him with the
proverbial lemon—a career-threatening concussion—he simply runs the other way,
right into the arms of litigator Laura Adler.

When
a second concussion sidelines Milwaukee Greyhound running back Tim Douglas, the
rest of his life continues full-speed ahead. A sometime law student, Tim is
faced with a classic Catch 22: Whether to continue to play football and risk a
third and possibly life-altering concussion or quit the game altogether to
pursue a career as a sports agent. He loves the game, but his priorities change
when he meets Laura Adler, a sassy, sexy young attorney and rabid Greys fan.
Their sizzling romp of a romance turns serious and Laura demands that he make a
decision about football before she accepts his marriage proposal. Will Tim
choose football or the law, and what role will Laura play in his future?

Buy
links: None
yet, but will be available from www.extasy books.com first, then Amazon
Books, Barnes & Nobel, and other major booksellers.